There are two things that I feel are very important if you want to have better conversations. You need to be curious and you need to ask the right questions. 

Being curious for me means having a desire to learn, and having a real interest in the other person.

A great way to show you’re interested is by asking good questions. But what does that mean?

Instead of asking closed-ended questions that can be answered by a simple “yes” or “no”, ask open-ended questions that require more than a simple one-word answer, and that encourage the person you’re speaking with to open up.

Open-ended questions are:

• How?
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Which?
• Why?

And then, if you make sure that those open-ended questions are pleasure-producing, you’ll make the other person feel good and the conversation more memorable.

So instead of asking the obligatory “How are you?”, you might like to try something like, “What was the most interesting thing that happened to you today?”

The response might well open the door to a much more meaningful conversation. 

What other open-ended, pleasure-producing questions we could ask?

Meetings are often seen as unproductive or unnecessary. So how can we make them better?

Zoom has created a Mindful Meetings Checklist, offering us simple steps for making our meetings happier and more productive.

Could this checklist help you? Do you have anything you would like to add to it?

What can we do in times like these to improve our mood? How can we bring more inspiration into our lives? What new things can we try out?

Anita Klein, Laughter Wellness Consultant and owner of the Lachscheune, gave us lots of ideas in her latest newsletter. Here are just a few of them:

• Start the day differently (like trying out a new type of coffee, for example).
• Instead of ending the day in front of the television, take a walk around the block with your partner, a neighbour or a child.
• Buy yourself a bunch of yellow tulips (or other flowers) to brighten up the room. (I’ve just returned from a bike ride with sprigs of apple blossom, as you can see in the photo above).
• Be creative and try out a new recipe.
• Buy an exotic fruit you’ve never tried before.
• Give someone a phone call.
• Write a postcard.
• Create a small vegetable plot.
• Register for an online course, and learn something completely new or reactivate an old hobby.

Has this list inspired you to try out something new or to create your own list even? If so, I’d love to hear what you’re planning to do.

In a recent ice-breaker exercise, we spoke about Little Known Facts (also known as LKF—facts that not many people know about us). I told the group that I used to breed hamsters. Mind you, that’s going back a few years!

That led us on to talking about “Hamsterkäufe”.

Last year there was a lot of talk about people stockpiling (which is planned) and panic buying (which is impulsive) in Germany. Toilet paper became one of the most sought-after products—together with disinfectants and soap.

Perhaps panic buying is a normal response in times of uncertainty?

As Steven Taylor says, “If everyone else on the Titanic is running for the lifeboats, you’re going to run too, regardless if the ship’s sinking or not”.

Food for thought?

(The German word “hamstern” can be translated with “to hoard”.)

“Stop looking at what other people are doing and look at what you’re achieving. Stop looking sideways, look at where you’re going.”
Jocelyn Glei, Manage your Day to Day

Reading this quotation reminds me of a word I’ve only heard of recently—comparisonitis.

Do you know the feeling of comparing yourself to others in your business? Feeling that everyone else is doing things better? You read other people’s texts and watch their videos and wonder whether you’ll be able to produce anything similar one day?

Of course, it’s not good. Of course, it’s pointless comparing ourselves to others. Of course, it limits our potential.

Isn’t comparisonitis fear in disguise? Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of rejection?

So what should we be doing instead? Shouldn’t we be focusing more on what we do well, on our own progress, on valuing our successes and on enjoying the journey at the same time?

We are all special, unique and good enough. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves now and again?

Do you ever have moments when you compare yourself to others and are dissatisfied with yourself? How do you manage those feelings?

If that’s too personal to write here, you can always send me an email. I love hearing from my readers.